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Wake-Up Call: Darker colors brought brighter times for Bucs

Staff file photo (2003)

The Bucs ditched their orange uniforms and winking-pirate helmet in 1997 for a new red and pewter identity.

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By JOEY JOHNSTON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 4, 2009

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The Wake-Up Call greets you each weekday with news, views and a few Tampa Bay area sports offerings to anticipate for the day and night. We encourage suggestions and contributions.

Good morning!

Nearly seven years ago, as he stood on the balcony of his hotel suite in La Jolla, Calif., Bucs co-chairman Joel Glazer spoke about his franchise's dramatic turnaround. A few days away from what would become the team's ultimate moment – victory in Super Bowl XXXVII – Glazer pointed to a time when the losing perception finally changed.

New coach? New players? Nope.

New look.

The Bucs ditched their Creamsicle orange uniforms and winking-pirate helmet in 1997 for a new red-and-pewter identity.

"How we looked was the most tangible thing,'' Joel Glazer said back then. "It may sound crazy, but I think when our players ran out there in those bright orange uniforms, it affected the mental attitude.

"It was always a reminder of losing. It just needed to change. People would say uniforms don't win games or lose games, but we felt every little piece of the puzzle was important.''

Guess what?

The orange has returned.

In a special one-week engagement, but the Bucs (0-7) are bringing back the orange for Sunday afternoon's throwback game against the Green Bay Packers (4-3) at Raymond James Stadium.

"The losing reputation of the orange uniforms kind of took on a life of its own,'' said former Bucs linebacker Scot Brantley, who played in Tampa Bay from 1980-87. "Yeah, there were bad times in the orange. But there were some pretty good times, too (three playoff teams from 1979-82).

"People tend to forget that and lump all the losing together. That orange look used to be popular. I think when it started out, it was considered pretty unique.''

How did it all start anyway?

The nickname

Owner Hugh Culverhouse appointed a 14-member advisory board, which would settle on a nickname, team colors and a logo (decided in that order).

After sifting through more than 400 entries in a name-the-team contest, "Buccaneers'' was selected.

And it was the Tampa Bay Buccaneers – not the Tampa Buccaneers – to promote a regional fan base for the team. The nickname was a salute to the area's pirate heritage and its annual Gasparilla festival.
NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle approved the nickname on Feb. 15, 1975.

"It catches the spirit, I think, of the coastline community and the rich history of the so-called freebooters that they tell me took charge in their days of pirating and buccaneering,'' Culverhouse said at the time. "We want our football team to be aggressive, high-spirited and colorful, as were the old buccaneers.''

The colors

Cypress Gardens executive Dick Pope proposed orange as the dominant color. It would represent Florida's citrus industry.

The original colors were orange, green and white, but those were quickly discarded because they resembled the Miami Dolphins' scheme.

Leonard Levy, an executive with Hillsborough Printing, suggested orange, red and white, but those vibrant colors seemed to clash. Then Levy produced a program from the American Basketball Association's Miami Floridians, who used orange and red, and a consensus began to shape.

The tints were toned down – not so much an assault on the senses – and the advisory board approved orange, red and white.

The logo

Bill Marcum, the Bucs' original director of marketing, said local artists and NFL Creative Properties submitted several ideas. "What we kept getting were symbols that looked like Long John Silver,'' Marcum said then. "We kept getting those scruffy-looking things. What we wanted was a cavalier, not a hairy-legged pirate.''

The team solicited ideas from Lamar Sparkman, The Tampa Tribune's award-winning cartoonist. First, Sparkman submitted a skull-and-crossbones design. Nope. Then he came up with a hangman's noose.

Nope.

On his third attempt, Sparkman produced precisely what the advisory board had in mind.

"The whole idea was of class instead of some kind of sweaty-looking desperado,'' Marcum said.

The initial feedback on Sparkman's drawing?

"It kind of looks like a high-class cutthroat.''

"Our buccaneer has a devil-may-care attitude.''

The advisory board debated about adding an eye patch. Nope. That got back to an old-style pirate the board was trying to avoid.

There was a question about whether the Buccaneer should have both eyes open or whether it was better to have an eye closed, almost like a wink, which was Sparkman's original concept. Glenna Hancock, the team's public-relations assistant, saw the drawing and thought it was more like a leer, kind of sexy, actually.

"That settled it,'' Marcum said.

Sparkman's Buccaneer was intended to be a cross between Errol Flynn, Robin Hood, Jean Lafitte and D'Artagnan (one of the Three Musketeers).

The aftermath

The colors were selected before the hiring of Coach John McKay, who admitted, well after his retirement, that he didn't care for them.

"I looked at our jerseys and thought, 'My gosh, we're dressed just like that bus over there,' '' McKay remarked in 1997.

But once the Bucs ditched their 0-and-26 debut and came with 10 points of reaching Super Bowl XIV after the 1979 season, Tampa Bay was awash in Orange Pride.

"The Denver Broncos called themselves the 'Orange Crush' before we did, but we would definitely crush you,'' said former Bucs linebacker Richard Wood (1976-84). "It doesn't matter what uniform you wear. It's the players inside that uniform. What kind of pride do they have? Can they compete?''

The Bucs made three playoff appearances and were seemingly poised to become one of the NFL's elite teams in the 1980s. Then the bottom dropped out. The Bucs ran off 14 consecutive losing seasons – and orange became laughable.

One Chicago columnist referred to the Bucs as "pastel footwipes.''

"Let's face it, the Bucs became a joke,'' ESPN's Chris Berman said. "Not like ha-ha funny. I'm talking Jackie Gleason funny. Every Sunday, it was, 'And away we go!' All the losing became a reference point for the franchise and it was identified by the orange.''

When the new generation of players hit town – guys such as John Lynch, Warren Sapp and Derrick Brooks – they hungered for change.

"I didn't so much mind the orange, but I hated that logo,'' Lynch said. "It was something for people to ridicule. Something we didn't need.''

"I'm glad they changed by the time I got there,'' former offensive tackle Kenyatta Walker said. "It had to be hard walking on the field looking like that.''

The Throwback Game

Now orange is cool again – at least for one Sunday.

"I absolutely can't wait for the guys to run on the field wearing the old uniforms,'' said former Bucs safety Mark Cotney (1976-84). "I think it's time. I always preferred our white-on-white look – I thought that was sharp – but this is going to bring back the memories.

"I've seen all the other franchises have throwback games and some of those uniforms are really goofy. I think our throwback game is going to be special.''

It comes with a ready-made punchline.

Naturally, the Bucs are winless as they bring back the orange.

"Maybe the orange will bring them some good luck,'' said former Bucs linebacker David Lewis (1977-81). "It was good to us in our era.''

"I see people wearing orange around town and it gives me pride,'' Wood said. "It lets people know that some good football existed back then, too.''

Bucs co-chairman Edward Glazer said the Throwback Game will pay tribute to the franchise's heritage.

"We knew all along we'd be bringing back (the orange jerseys), but you have to let it become more of a history, let it sit on the shelf a while,'' Edward Glazer said. "You have the older people, who remember it fondly. Now you bring it back and there's nostalgia to it.

"People felt we were trying to lock history in the closet and that was never the case. You appreciate it more as time goes by. Now people are excited about it because it's time.''

UT, Saint Leo tangle in volleyball tonight

The No. 8-ranked University of Tampa volleyball team (24-2, 11-1 Sunshine State Conference) has 10 straight victories – all in a sweep, meaning the Spartans have captured 30 consecutive games. Tonight, UT travels to No. 12 Saint Leo (25-2, 12-0) – the last team to beat the Spartans on Oct. 3.

Arenas nearing punt return records

University of Alabama senior Javier Arenas (Robinson) might be on the verge of setting the career punt return yardage record for the SEC – and the nation.

The career totals for Arenas: 112 punt returns for 1,579 yards (14.1-yard average) and six touchdowns.

Arenas needs 117 yards to break the SEC record of Vanderbilt's Lee Nalley (1,695 yards from 1947-49).

Arenas needs 183 yards to break the Division I-A national record of Texas Tech's Wes Welker (1,761 yards from 2000-03).

Alabama (8-0) hosts LSU (7-1) on Saturday afternoon.

Dominique Davis to East Carolina

Former Boston College quarterback Dominique Davis (Kathleen), who started last season's ACC Championship Game in Tampa, left the school after last season due to academic reasons and enrolled at Fort Scott (Kan.) Community College. His coach there, Jeff Sims, told the Boston Globe that Davis has committed to play next year at East Carolina University.

Nice sense of humor

University of Louisville coach Steve Kragthorpe remains under fire, but give him credit for a sense of humor.

Kragthorpe was late for his weekly news conference on Monday. He apologized, then said, "I was actually talking to Jon Gruden, and he wanted to know how tall Will Stein was.''

Stein, Louisville's 5-foot-10 walk-on quarterback, led the Cardinals to a victory against Arkansas State on Saturday.

Gruden, the former Bucs' coach, has been rumored as Kragthorpe's replacement (without basis, as far as we know). Gruden insists he's happy with his current "Monday Night Football'' analyst gig.

Birthday wishes

Happy birthday to former Rays outfielder Bubba Trammell, who played in Tampa Bay from 1998-2000. He was the pride of the "142 Crew,'' a group of fans in Section 142 of Tropicana Field. Their chant – "BUBBA!'' – punctuated each Trammell at-bat. After leaving Tampa Bay, Trammell played in the majors with the Mets, Padres and Yankees.

He retired from baseball in 2007 while on a rehabilitation assignment with the Aberdeen IronBirds, a minor-league team in the Baltimore Orioles' organization. Today, Trammell turns 38.

The Answer Man

Here's the answer to Tuesday's trivia question:

Former Bucs defensive end Lee Roy Selmon began his football career at Eufaula (Okla.) High School. The team's nickname? The Ironheads.

Wednesday trivia

Here's our daily sports trivia question, featuring a Tampa Bay/Florida spin. Try your luck by commenting below.

Who was the opponent when the Bucs first won a regular-season home game while wearing their orange jerseys? Bonus: Who was the opponent when the Bucs first won a regular-season ROAD game while wearing their orange jerseys?

Check for the answer in Thursday's Wake-Up Call.

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